Southwest
Rachel Morin's 'bum' killer mooched off locals before murdering mom of 5: lawyer
The attorney for Rachel Morin’s family says the trial of her murderer is a testament to relentless law enforcement and a devastating indictment of immigration failures that allowed her killer to murder the Maryland mom of five.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was found guilty of raping and murdering Morin in August 2023. The jury returned a unanimous verdict in 46 minutes after a weeklong trial that exposed the graphic details of the crime and the cross-country manhunt that followed.
“After 19 months of going through this nightmare of losing Rachel, we now have a verdict,” Randolph Rice, the Morin family attorney, told Fox News Digital. “Victor Martinez-Hernandez is guilty on all counts.”
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: JURY FINDS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GUILTY OF KILLING JOGGER
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of raping and killing Rachel Morin in Maryland in August 2022. (Tulsa Police Department/Facebook)
The Baltimore-based attorney said the migrant was a “bum” who took advantage of the people he stayed with.
“What we also learned was that he really had no connections to that community, other than he might have had some people that he knew from El Salvador when he was a little child, and apparently he seemed like he was couch-surfing wherever he could find a home,” Rice said.
“He was a troublemaker. He was a bum who didn’t pay for a thing and was ultimately kicked out of that Bel Air home,” he said. “Even though they got him jobs, he was just sitting at the bar drinking.”
Entrance to the Ma & Pa Trail in Maryland (Google Maps)
The Salvadoran migrant’s path led him to the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, a quaint community northeast of Baltimore, on Aug. 14, 2023.
“She was attacked and dragged into a tunnel. Her Apple Watch later became a critical piece of evidence, linking the suspect directly to the crime scene,” Rice said.
Witnesses described following blood trails that eventually led to Morin’s remains. Forensic teams later recovered DNA from her body, the tunnel wall and other surrounding evidence.
RACHEL MORIN’S ALLEGED ILLEGAL KILLER LEFT SLAIN JOGGER’S BODY ALONG 150-FOOT BLOOD TRAIL
They described a trail with flattened leaves before finding rocks with blood on them. The two witnesses walked through two tunnels with overgrown brush, where they found Morin’s body.
“I saw an unclothed human body on her back. At first, I truly thought it might have been a deer or something that had died in there,” testified Evan Knapp, who found Morin’s body. “So, I had to move a bit closer to confirm what I had seen, and it was a human. I feel like time froze for a second, and I didn’t know what I was looking at.”
Evan Knapp testifies in the murder trial of Victor Martinez-Hernandez at the Harford County Courthouse in Bel Air, Md., on April 4, 2025. (Dana Verkouteren)
Knapp and his friend, Cecilia, immediately called 911. Authorities retraced the path where Morin’s body had been dragged after her rape and murder. Police also collected large bloody rocks that authorities said were used to smash her skull.
Autopsy results revealed that Morin had endured 15 to 20 blows to the head and had died from a combination of strangulation and blunt force trauma. Her death was officially ruled a homicide.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of raping and murdering Rachel Morin in Maryland on Aug. 5, 2023. (Tulsa Police Department/Facebook)
Rice said this was a “preventable crime” that touched on a flash point in the 2024 presidential race with immigration front and center.
“This was a preventable crime because you had an individual who should not have been in the United States.”
“And in fact, he was stopped three times at the border. He was returned to Mexico. And then ultimately he crosses a fourth time in El Paso, Texas. And then he goes on his spree of crimes in the United States, starting in Los Angeles. There, he breaks into a house and he assaults a mother and daughter there, and then he makes his way across the country, presumably on a bus, to Bel Air, Maryland.”
WATCH: VICTOR MARTINEZ-HERNANDEZ ARREST
Rice praised the dedication of law enforcement, noting that investigators combined DNA evidence, digital tracking and social media clues to locate the suspect. He was ultimately arrested at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: FORMER FBI AGENT REVEALS HOW CAPTURE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN KILLING WENT DOWN
“He had screenshots of press releases about Rachel’s murder saved on his phone,” Rice said. “He knew the net was closing in.”
Despite denying ever being in Maryland, Martinez-Hernandez’s DNA was matched to multiple sources at the crime scene.
Rachel Morin was found dead on a hiking trail. She was reported missing by her boyfriend, Richard Tobin, far right. (Facebook)
Morin, 37, left behind five children. Her 14-year-old daughter was the first witness to testify last week, fighting back tears as she described her mother’s disappearance.
“This is a scary reminder of how careful we have to be when we’re out and about,” said Rice. “Rachel never knew this man. It was completely random.”
Martinez-Hernandez is set to be sentenced and could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Fox News Digital reached out to his attorney.
Patty Morin, left, mother of Rachel Morin, is shown during the daily press briefing at the White House on April 16, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
With visible emotion, Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, spoke as a special guest at Wednesday’s press briefing at the White House, sharing personal testimony about the urgent need to remove criminal migrants from the country.
“These are the kind of criminals President Trump wants to remove from our country. These are the kind of criminals that we need removed from our country. We are American citizens,” she said. “Why should we allow people like this, violent criminals that have no conscience at all, to murder our mothers, our sisters, our daughters?”
“I don’t understand why there’s even any kind of problem with this. … We need to protect our families, our borders, our children,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, joined by Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin, left, holds a briefing on April 16, 2025. (Pool)
Justice Department attorneys said they were unaware of Maryland immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts after he was deported to an El Salvadoran prison last month. (Fox News)
Rice slammed Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., for traveling to El Salvador on Wednesday to check on the condition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 39-year-old who was deported to the El Salvadoran mega prison called the Terrorism Confinement Center for being an alleged MS-13 gang member, though his attorneys maintain he does not have any gang ties.
“So it seems that he is giving more attention to an illegal immigrant than he is to a Maryland and American citizen, Rachel Morin,” Rice said. “That’s crazy … it is just a no-brainer. You’re here to protect Americans and Marylanders. And he’s more worried about going to El Salvador and bringing an illegal immigrant back who is a gang member.”
After Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of Morin’s murder, Van Hollen said in a statement he was grateful to law enforcement and calling for “meaningful action” to reform “our broken immigration system.”
“We can do this while also supporting our immigrant communities and respecting the rights of individuals who are here legally – I am committed to doing both, and I will continue pressing my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move forward on this issue,” Van Hollen said.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Water main break floods West Hollywood streets, traps cars
A broken water main sent water gushing from an apartment building and turned nearby streets into rivers in West Hollywood early Thursday morning. The break was reported around 3 a.m. near Holloway Drive and Sunset Boulevard. “It’s a rupture of one of the significant mains that goes through here. West Hollywood, as it turns out, […]
Los Angeles, Ca
Remains of murder victim identified as missing Southern California millionaire
After more than four decades, the remains of a woman who was found buried in the mountains of Riverside County were identified as a multi-millionaire who went missing in 1981.
The body of Thelma Gaston was discovered by a person gathering firewood in a mountainous area near Sugar Loaf Mountain and the Pinyon Crest community on Nov. 28, 1981.
After experiencing a series of heartbreaking life events, including the death of her husband and her 32-year-old son in the same year in 1957, Gaston continued forging ahead, focusing on her business of buying repossessed properties and selling them.
By 1980, she had amassed a fortune estimated to be over $20 million, SFGATE reported.
On June 28, 1981, a note was left on the front door of her home near Century City, saying she was out searching for her cat. However, she never returned home and her loved ones did not hear from her.
By then, Gaston was 80 years old. As Los Angeles Police Department detectives investigated her disappearance, they discovered a younger man, Lawrence Remsen, then 39, had recently entered her life and was the woman’s romantic companion, SFGATE reported.
At one point, the woman’s friends said Gaston had wondered about Remsen’s motives in being with her.
Police eventually found letters and documents reportedly signed by Gaston that gave Remsen power of attorney. Another letter allegedly written by the woman claimed she had run away “to have some fun in life.” However, her friends said the move was completely out of character.
Detectives later confirmed the letters were certified with a stolen notary stamp and her signatures were believed to be forged.
Remsen had tried selling some of Gaston’s properties and attempted to withdraw more than $100,000 from her bank accounts. Remsen eventually fled the Southern California area.
A few months later, he was arrested by border agents when he tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico. He was charged with Gaston’s murder even though the woman’s body had not been found.
During a trial hearing, Remsen later claimed he found the woman dead of natural causes in her home and, attempting to take her fortune, had disposed of her body in the ocean.
The judge disagreed and later ruled that Remsen had killed the woman “intentionally and with malice.” He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Gaston’s body was later discovered buried in a shallow grave in the mountains. However, due to the poor condition of the remains, investigators were unable to narrow down an identity.
A breakthrough occurred in 2022 when the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau received new funding to reexamine long-standing unidentified cases.
“Combined with significant advances in forensic science, this funding opened new avenues for identification,” the sheriff’s office said.
In May 2026, utilizing investigative genetic genealogy and dental records, the remains were positively identified as Gaston’s.
“The Riverside Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau extends its sincere appreciation to everyone whose dedication, expertise, and perseverance made this identification possible,” officials said in a statement. “Together, these efforts have ensured that Ms. Gaston has her name—and her story—returned to her.”
Remsen, who is now 83 years old, continues serving his life sentence at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
Los Angeles, Ca
Southern California hits hottest day of its extreme heat warning
Southern California remains under an extreme heat warning as residents brace for the hottest day of the week on Wednesday.
“It will be roasty toasty in the valleys, lower mountain elevations and far interior, with highs ranging from 100 to 110 degrees,” the National Weather Service said. The warmest conditions are expected in the western San Fernando Valley.
An extreme heat warning remains in effect for much of Southern California until 8 p.m. Thursday. Forecasters say there is a high risk of heat-related illness for anyone outdoors for extended periods. Heat advisories are also in place for areas along the coast.
“Highs for today: 98 in Ojai, 100 in Ontario. Temecula, good morning to you, 100 degrees expected there. 112 in Palm Springs. Unbelievably hot,” KTLA’s Kirk Hawkins said Wednesday morning.
Residents are urged to adjust their afternoon plans to limit strenuous outdoor activities during the heat of the day, stay hydrated and check in on elderly neighbors and loved ones.
The Weather Service said record highs are slightly warmer than those forecast for Wednesday. As a result, despite the extremely hot conditions, few, if any, temperature records are expected to be broken.
A few degrees of cooling are expected Thursday, but a more significant cooldown will arrive Friday as onshore winds increase.
Afternoon highs are expected to cool even more over the weekend, with below-average temperatures possible in some areas.
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